Dobutamine is a synthetic derivative of dopamine characterized by prominent inotropic but weak chronotropic and arrhythmogenic properties. Dopamine is a precursor of norepinephrine and epinephrine; and dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine are catecholamines associated with a sympathetic response to stress. Dobutamine provides a pharmaceutical means for providing sympathomimetic stimulation (stimulation that mimics the actions of the sympathetic system).
Animal studies have shown that intermittent sympathomimetic stimulation with dobutamine can produce beneficial changes analogous to the effects of physical training. In a controlled study of moderate to severe heart failure patients, short-term sympathetic stimulation with dobutamine (30 minutes/day, 4 days/week, for 3 weeks), was associated with a significant improvement in symptoms, autonomic balance, and chronotropic detrimental down-regulation responsiveness. Benefits of short-term sympathetic stimulation with dobutamine included increased exercise tolerance, improved heart rate variability, lowered peripheral vascular resistance, and reduced plasma noradrenaline. The short stimulation periods, in contrast to studies with long-term dopamine infusion, were not associated with detrimental down-regulation of β-receptors.